Monday, August 31, 2009
born to hand jive!
oops. i forgot to celebrate the one-year anniversary of wanderlust - nd style.... i started this blog a year ago on august 23, my dad's birthday. later this week i plan on going through the highlights of the past year. until then - what has been the best part of the past year for you??
aug twitter archive
- new poll! when was the last time you used a phone booth? http://bit.ly/3xtEM
- just did @yogamazing for digestion and now tara stiles yoga for bed. then sleep with keith olbermann (in the background, not really, i wish)
- another installment of "left in the wrong world" http://bit.ly/14uhRm
- new segment: left (right) in the wrong (right) world http://bit.ly/afATN
- i almost burnt my apt down last night http://bit.ly/QOPVS
- just received dexter season 3 in the mail. now i am really happy. just hand over a bottle of wine.
- i love the smell of a new yoga mat. especially in child's pose. i could stay there all day.
- what i wouldn't give to play challenge of ancient empires again. or maybe where in the world is carmen sandiego...
- its officially after midnight - happy birthday @parithed!!
- @erdynorth where was your ipod??
- quick post: friendly north dakotans & really funny short video about making wine http://wanderlust-ndstyle.b... check it out!!
- @erdysouth - i meant you can BORROW it... fotc s2, that is. about to watch now with a bit of bubbly....
- just bought flight of the conchords season 2. hell yeah... now i know what i'm doing all weekend. btw @erdysouth you CAN copy
- happy birthday @delicateleah!! remember that time...
- excellent blog about life in columbus ohio. please comment http://bit.ly/gaAp9
- guys here at work talking about favre and just wanting to skip training camp. say he's going to throw the ball around and then fall apart...
- Just landed in chicago. On way to columbus. Wish had said goodbye to @erdysouth before i left. Am really really tired.
- Woo hoo!! Five dollar movie. At the ugly truth. Will blog about it later. Or something.
- 9pm at the main avenue bridge between fargo and moorhead: candlelight vigil for peaceful resolution of health care. Be there or be square.
- congrats to @parithed who shot a 70 today at edgewood and @erdynorth stopped by - what a great day!
- last week in fargo. sad...are you cool enough to hang out with me? http://bit.ly/16Tkmg
- its 8:39pm central time. has NO ONE twittered all day?? i haven't gotten a twitter in 7 hours. something is off. i don't like this.
- ok i'm bored. give me something to do. i dare you...
- OPP yeah you know me
- check it out! w/ @erdysouth @charpie @bklavs video and thanks to @cbruels for nodak article! http://wanderlust-ndstyle.b...
- totally kicked @erdysouth's ass in mancala tonight. who's on for settler's of catan at some point??
- i am soooo bored. http://bit.ly/YKD3B
- OH. MY GOD. megan wants a millionaire is my new favorite show. it's so horrible, it's good. agreed entourage bit the dust tonight.
- just hung out with @erdynorth and let him beat me in settlers of catan. next up: @erdysouth and @charpie tomorrow night!
left in the wrong world part 7
overheard at work:
"i think obama has a larger plan for what he wants."
"hitler had a larger plan, too!"
[everyone explodes in laughter]
i have no words for how wrong this is.
"i think obama has a larger plan for what he wants."
"hitler had a larger plan, too!"
[everyone explodes in laughter]
i have no words for how wrong this is.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
lovin', touchin', squeezin'
you make me weepi'm in a rather good mood right now. quite giddy, in fact. i rather like living alone and having a place to myself and hearing journey in the car on the way home from a cute indie flick - (500) days of summer - go see. it was mignon. i love seeing movies by myself - it always puts me in a good mood. it would've been even better if it had been at a refurbished old 1920s art deco movie theater, but i guess amc will do for middle america.
i wanna die
just when you said we'd try...
today has been pleasantly productive even though i have done nothing. i think i was hung over this morning, which is funny because i accidentally got drunk last night. at least i think i did - i think i went to bed before i was really drunk, but i definitely had a headache all morning. which means i slept through my drunkness, which kind of sucks - thats half the fun of drinking! i had two glasses of wine to finish this bottle i had open (can't let it sit too long or it'll go bad). then my friend, kevy-wevy skyped me and so i took out these two mini bottles of champagne and had those - one for me and one for him since we couldn't have it together. and then we were having such a good time chatting, i had the other two that were left in the fridge. i went to watch the weeds comic con panel and i fell asleep on the couch but awoke a few minutes later with a jolt and i felt ill because i startled myself so. i promptly put myself to bed. then this morning i realized how much i accidentally drunk. woops.
i was craving a sandwich that i used to get in boston all that time at cosi, and i knew there was one nearbyish, so i decided to walk there. its 1.4 miles away, which isn't very far. i figured that would be my workout for today. i set out and of course, there are no sidewalks to walk on. so i walked a mile and a half on grass, which is about my least favorite thing to do in the world. and this wasn't like nice, football field grass where you hope the cute quarterback will kiss you on. this was thorny and gross side of the highway grass that you see in scary movies before someone's head is thrown out of a car. i was worried i was going to get hit by a flying head. i dont understand this phenomenon of building a city without sidewalks. its horrible! and get this: while i was walking, i passed NUMEROUS BUS STOPS. how the hell do you get to a bus stop without a sidewalk?? and when i would get to the intersections of major roads, they would have the crosswalks painted and grooved curbs and buttons to push to get the walk sign, but no. no sidewalks to get TO the crosswalks! how silly is that??!! urban planners are ruining america! it means that people are not talking to their neighbors. people are not going for healthy walks. if you don't have a car, you're actually discouraged from getting around. horrible.
this is the conversation i had with my dear friend, shad, on the way home from cosi and this is also why i am in such a good mood tonight. i feel like i'm helping people. or helping people to help people. which means that i am, somehow indirectly, helping people. the end people, i mean. my friend shad is very important in vermont and he needs contacts back in nodak to kick some certain legislator's butt in gear (will explain more later) and my friend kj's husband is just the guy to do that! so i put everyone in contact and that means i'm helping! i'm making a difference! (well, assuming THOSE people actually go out and make a difference. this contingency difference-making is kind of hard now that i think about it...)
in any case, bravo to all my important friends. the wheel in the sky keeps on turning. i don't know where i will be tomorrow...
wait. yes i do. i will be at work. which i would like to comment on for a second. i was talking to my left half the other day and i was kind of doing this exasperated "ugh - ohio" thing which is my new mantra, and she said something like, "well, what do you expect? this is the midwest." and it really made me think. i've spent all weekend thinking about it, in fact. she is right, but she is not totally. i'm surprised by everything i see out here for a few reasons. 1) i don't know a lot of people in north dakota who are HARD-CORE in to politics and conservatism. people are pretty laid-back and respectful of each other. 2) which is not at all the vibe i am getting from people at work. what you hear in left in the wrong world is a phrase or two of twenty and thirty minute tirades about the government and "fucking liberals." kj brought up a good point, can you imagine if we said "fucking conservatives?" they would not put up with that at all. so point 3) is the fact that these people at work, while i understand a good debate and the natural ability and desire to question the government, are waaaay beyond that point. they have a new person in the room - there are only 12 people in the room and i am clearly NEW and do NOT know any of them - and they feel they can spout their beliefs so violently and without fault. i've never been one to talk politics at work, especially when you are around people who do not agree or who you do not even know you. 4) my last point is that i should admit i have been a bit naive - i truly believed that violent, gun-toting, abortion-doctor killing, hypocrytical uneducated conservatives were not really real. seeing people like this on the news was always, for me, kind of like watching a movie - fine, sure it's mostly believable, but that's not really what happens. and now i know i'm wrong.
so while i understand that left half was correct in her assessment of "what did you expect? this is the midwest?" and people in the midwest are more conservative... she was also wrong because people in the midwest are supposed to be more tolerant and respectful of each other. i truly believe that if i were to say anything that contradicts with some of these people's beliefs (in my office, specifically), it could become a hostile working enviornment. when i sit there and hear what they are talking about, my stomach starts to get warm and my cheeks turn red. that is how upset i get. sometimes i just sit there and try to remember what they are saying for more fodder for entertainment, sometimes it is so upsetting i have to leave the room. i have started bringing my ipod and wearing the headphones so i am not tempted to start an argument. and believe me, i'm tempted. the unfortunate part is that i am not mentally able to point out all of their ridiculous arguments - i'm just not smart enough. and that frustrates me. and as i pointed out to kj the other day, "i'm a polarizing person, so i don't want to bring anything up." while i know this is true about me, i didn't really realize that other people saw it, too. that is, until kj said, "i know, thats what i love about you." !! i guess i'm not as good at hiding that as i thought.
so, for now, i shall be content to put together people who do good work (and release my work frustrations to you, my dear readers). from hundreds of miles away, i am pleased with that bit of doing. and from one polarizing person to the next - i'm going to get ready for bed and listen to a bit of journey.
it's been a mystery
but still they try to see
why something good can hurt so bad.........
left in the wrong world part 6
i was surprised when i heard my coworkers have this discussion, completely out of the blue:
"do you know who would be the perfect republican ticket in 2012? Hanity / palin. I’m gonna order a hanity / palin bumper sticker."
"do you know who would be the perfect republican ticket in 2012? Hanity / palin. I’m gonna order a hanity / palin bumper sticker."
Saturday, August 29, 2009
left in the wrong world part 5
bumper sticker i drove behind:
ENDANGERED SPECIES
god-fearing pro-choice
right-wing conservative
republican
god-fearing pro-choice
right-wing conservative
republican
if only this were true...
Friday, August 28, 2009
left in the wrong world part 4
all i see online are good words about senator kennedy. not at work in central ohio:
coworker said to me yesterday, “wasn’t kennedy anti-military?”
i was like, “i have no idea.” which i don’t. but i cant imagine that’s true.
“i think he was and they’re burying him in arlington. that’s despicable.”
all i could reply was, “i know not of such things.”
i looked it up and he is eligible to be buried in arlington because he served from '51-'53.
coworker said to me yesterday, “wasn’t kennedy anti-military?”
i was like, “i have no idea.” which i don’t. but i cant imagine that’s true.
“i think he was and they’re burying him in arlington. that’s despicable.”
all i could reply was, “i know not of such things.”
i looked it up and he is eligible to be buried in arlington because he served from '51-'53.
what do you think of phone booths? (mc avail) poll archive
cool history - keep them around | 4 (40%) |
keep only if we had the london red booths | 4 (40%) |
who cares? i've got a cell phone | 1 (10%) |
this is a stupid poll | 2 (20%) |
other (comment) | 0 (0%) |
Votes so far: 10
Poll closed
Thursday, August 27, 2009
demented and sad, but social
This morning I read this article on new york city, the largest city in the US, has only 4 phone booths left. FOUR. Isn’t that incredible? I wonder when the first one was installed…
I have many memories of phone booths. Nooo, not like THAT. What I was thinking about is the first time I went to new york – I was a freshman in college and I met three friends there for thanksgiving – all from north Dakota. I was very bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. I KNEW that people could tell I was not from there and that I had no big city experience (living on campus in boston for 2 months does not count as city experience). So before my trip, I went to express (where I also worked) and bought a purse that had a zipper and a lock so that no one could pick pocket me. My friends were meeting me from DC and Philadelphia. I just now realized that none of them knew each other. Funny. Anyway, we were walking near times square and we wanted to use the phone (this is pre-cell phone days of course) and we found a pay phone. Before my friend, shad, went in the phone booth, I sprayed it with disinfectant that I had bought purposefully for the trip. I sprayed the whole booth. I was very proud of myself. And to think there are only 4 left. Probably not the one I sprayed down.
My other thought of phone booths is living in france. Since it was so expensive to set up a landline and even more expensive to call the US from a cell phone, I used to buy phone cards and walk down the street to the phone booth and call my parents. So old school. I spent HOURS in phone booths in france. I think they are still fairly prevalent over there… the thing with phone booths in france is, though, you have to buy a phone card before you can use them. You can’t put money in them – it has to be a card. This can be rather annoying if you don’t have a card or don’t realize whats going on. And you most often can’t use a credit card – it’s a specific carte telephonique that you have to get.
When lisa and meat came to the US a few years ago, they couldn’t figure out how to use the American pay phones. They bitched to me for hours about it the next time I saw them. They were like, “money?! You can ONLY use QUARTERS?!” I couldn’t figure out how they couldn’t figure out how to use the phones. I think it has to do with dialing the “1” first. To this day, they think French phones are easier. Silly Europeans.
I have many memories of phone booths. Nooo, not like THAT. What I was thinking about is the first time I went to new york – I was a freshman in college and I met three friends there for thanksgiving – all from north Dakota. I was very bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. I KNEW that people could tell I was not from there and that I had no big city experience (living on campus in boston for 2 months does not count as city experience). So before my trip, I went to express (where I also worked) and bought a purse that had a zipper and a lock so that no one could pick pocket me. My friends were meeting me from DC and Philadelphia. I just now realized that none of them knew each other. Funny. Anyway, we were walking near times square and we wanted to use the phone (this is pre-cell phone days of course) and we found a pay phone. Before my friend, shad, went in the phone booth, I sprayed it with disinfectant that I had bought purposefully for the trip. I sprayed the whole booth. I was very proud of myself. And to think there are only 4 left. Probably not the one I sprayed down.
My other thought of phone booths is living in france. Since it was so expensive to set up a landline and even more expensive to call the US from a cell phone, I used to buy phone cards and walk down the street to the phone booth and call my parents. So old school. I spent HOURS in phone booths in france. I think they are still fairly prevalent over there… the thing with phone booths in france is, though, you have to buy a phone card before you can use them. You can’t put money in them – it has to be a card. This can be rather annoying if you don’t have a card or don’t realize whats going on. And you most often can’t use a credit card – it’s a specific carte telephonique that you have to get.
When lisa and meat came to the US a few years ago, they couldn’t figure out how to use the American pay phones. They bitched to me for hours about it the next time I saw them. They were like, “money?! You can ONLY use QUARTERS?!” I couldn’t figure out how they couldn’t figure out how to use the phones. I think it has to do with dialing the “1” first. To this day, they think French phones are easier. Silly Europeans.
left in the wrong world part 3
in honor of yesterday's passing of senator ted kennedy, i overheard this crass remark:
"They put him up there on a pedestal like he was some great figure or something."
sigh.
"They put him up there on a pedestal like he was some great figure or something."
sigh.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
left in the wrong world part 2
overheard at work:
"no! he's a lefty?"
"oh yeah! he's a lefty. he voted for barak obama."
"he voted for obama?"
"oh yeah. let me put it this way: if you voted for barak obama and you still support him, you're a lefty. if you've come to your senses, maybe we'll forgive you."
will you be forgiven?
"no! he's a lefty?"
"oh yeah! he's a lefty. he voted for barak obama."
"he voted for obama?"
"oh yeah. let me put it this way: if you voted for barak obama and you still support him, you're a lefty. if you've come to your senses, maybe we'll forgive you."
will you be forgiven?
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
that's a major appliance! that's not a name!
when i moved in to my apartment, they told me to test the fire detector once a week. when i got to my apartment, just to spite them (hoping it wasn’t working), i tested the fire detector. it fell on me. I was annoyed. I felt confident that I would not bother checking it ever again. And really, how often does a fire detector not work? And I’m only there for one month. So I just figure theres no need to check it.
well, its a week later. And it works. I almost don’t want to explain how I know this, but I guess I will…
last night I got food from my new favorite restaurant in Columbus: chile verde. Mmmm mmm good. I always like the idea that a place will get to know me. The first night I stopped there was last Thursday. I found it on my mileage plus dining program (where you get miles for eating at certain restos) and thought I’d give it a go. I drove by and it was in a strip mall which instantly turned me off. That, and it looked closed. I was starting to get the idea that most restaurants around here have closed (more on that to come), but I drove by the front door anyway. I could see feet inside. It was open! I walked in and its completely not what one imagines. It was cute and quaint and looked fun and not like a royal fork or anything (which is what I think of when I think of strip mall restos). I ask to place an order to go and saw a thing for a pomegranate margarita. Pomegranates are super-foods and some of the best foods on earth. And tequila is like the best alcohol on earth, so putting the two together is clearly a well-balanced meal. I sat at the bar and got a drink. They brought me chips which I LOVE. They were delish. And the salsa was spicy. So far, so good. I brought the food home and it was delicious. I was so pleased and I felt like despite eating tacos, I had eaten pretty healthily (with the pomegranates and all). So Friday night comes and I said to myself I would go again. This time, I drive up and the place is PACKED. People were waiting OUTSIDE just to get in. I pushed my way through and turned the corner to the host station and the woman sees me and right away says, “want to place an order?” I totally got to go in front of all the people trying to put their name on the list. I love this place. Once again it was good.
So anyway, last night (mon) I go back. And it was just as good although I’m trying to eat more healthy so I didn’t order a margarita and got soft shells which are not fried. But the taco meat is soo good – and I had them make it extra spicy for me, which is also good for you. I get home and I was like, “why don’t I have some tea? That would be the perfect end to today.” Actually, it wasn’t that thought out. I was just thinking, “tea.” In fargo, it was easy for tea to be out of sight, out of mind. And I had like 100 tea packets from all sorts of different tea boxes. When I was packing to come to Columbus, I was like, “that’s perfect! I’ll bring all this tea and finish it and not have to buy new stuff when I get there and won’t have to buy drinks because I can just boil the tap water and its great!” so I packed nearly 100 tea bags to bring to Columbus. I brought one canister to work and had another box of tea that I put out. But the rest were just random tea bags from a bunch of different teas. The apartment is sparsely furnished, with no extra containers, so I just took a pot and put the tea inside. It looked really cute and modern. Speaking of no kitchen storage, I need a small little Tupperware to bring snacks to work in. or some zip lock baggies (hint, hint).
Back to last night. The kitchen is narrow with the fridge and stove on one side and directly opposite it a counter with the sink. Above the counter is a hole in the wall to look into the living room (like a bar). I don’t have a kettle, so I pulled out the small pot and put it on the stove filled with water. I turned to the sink and was watching a podcast on my laptop. I was eating my dinner when I heard this crackling noise. I stopped moving to make sure it wasn’t me wrinkling the brown bag or something. It wasn’t. And then there was this smell I didn’t really understand. I turned around to the oven and it took me a second before I realized what was going on. At first glance, everything looked normal. Then I realized that the burner with the water on it was not bright red. The burner with the TEA bags on it WAS. I was shocked. Then the fire detector starts going off. I grabbed the pot full of tea bags and everything looks normal. They were dry bags, so I figured they were just singed. Just in case, I put a plate over the top of it so it would lose any air. I went into the hallway and took down the fire detector that had fallen on me. I had to hit it a few times to get it to stop. Then I went back to the kitchen. I take the plate off and all is fine. So I go to put the smoke detector back up and all of a sudden the whole place is full of smoke. I couldn’t figure out what was going on. I went back to the pot and picked up a few tea bags – they were almost half black, but not on fire. Then I found the culprit. Two bags were made of plastic and the plastic had melted and the inside tea bags had caught on fire – they were slowly burning beneath the other tea bags. I tried blowing it out, which of course doesn’t work, so I finally filled the pot with water and put it in the sink. I waved my towel around to get rid of the smoke. The place still smelt funny, which I guess is what happens when you set fire to herbs and spices in small cloth pouches. Sigh.
Of course, this only made me more determined for some tea. So I turned on the correct burner and then almost forgot about the boiling water. I need a timer I think to remind me of important things like that. I had tea from the box which was luckily not in the pot. It also just happens to be my favorite tea from france – reglisse menthe. It was all saved, but now I feel I have to ration it – only 20 bags left. Sad. L I couldn’t smell it, either, because of the smoky / sooty / amalgamation of burnt tea smell in the air. things like this always happen to me in the kitchen. I should just not be allowed in.
Later that night I went to the oven and double-checked that all the burners were off. I poured out the water from the tea bag pot which now smelt really bizarre and had a really dark rust color to it. If it hadn’t been sitting in burnt paper all night I might’ve tried drinking it… wait. probably not.
well, its a week later. And it works. I almost don’t want to explain how I know this, but I guess I will…
last night I got food from my new favorite restaurant in Columbus: chile verde. Mmmm mmm good. I always like the idea that a place will get to know me. The first night I stopped there was last Thursday. I found it on my mileage plus dining program (where you get miles for eating at certain restos) and thought I’d give it a go. I drove by and it was in a strip mall which instantly turned me off. That, and it looked closed. I was starting to get the idea that most restaurants around here have closed (more on that to come), but I drove by the front door anyway. I could see feet inside. It was open! I walked in and its completely not what one imagines. It was cute and quaint and looked fun and not like a royal fork or anything (which is what I think of when I think of strip mall restos). I ask to place an order to go and saw a thing for a pomegranate margarita. Pomegranates are super-foods and some of the best foods on earth. And tequila is like the best alcohol on earth, so putting the two together is clearly a well-balanced meal. I sat at the bar and got a drink. They brought me chips which I LOVE. They were delish. And the salsa was spicy. So far, so good. I brought the food home and it was delicious. I was so pleased and I felt like despite eating tacos, I had eaten pretty healthily (with the pomegranates and all). So Friday night comes and I said to myself I would go again. This time, I drive up and the place is PACKED. People were waiting OUTSIDE just to get in. I pushed my way through and turned the corner to the host station and the woman sees me and right away says, “want to place an order?” I totally got to go in front of all the people trying to put their name on the list. I love this place. Once again it was good.
So anyway, last night (mon) I go back. And it was just as good although I’m trying to eat more healthy so I didn’t order a margarita and got soft shells which are not fried. But the taco meat is soo good – and I had them make it extra spicy for me, which is also good for you. I get home and I was like, “why don’t I have some tea? That would be the perfect end to today.” Actually, it wasn’t that thought out. I was just thinking, “tea.” In fargo, it was easy for tea to be out of sight, out of mind. And I had like 100 tea packets from all sorts of different tea boxes. When I was packing to come to Columbus, I was like, “that’s perfect! I’ll bring all this tea and finish it and not have to buy new stuff when I get there and won’t have to buy drinks because I can just boil the tap water and its great!” so I packed nearly 100 tea bags to bring to Columbus. I brought one canister to work and had another box of tea that I put out. But the rest were just random tea bags from a bunch of different teas. The apartment is sparsely furnished, with no extra containers, so I just took a pot and put the tea inside. It looked really cute and modern. Speaking of no kitchen storage, I need a small little Tupperware to bring snacks to work in. or some zip lock baggies (hint, hint).
Back to last night. The kitchen is narrow with the fridge and stove on one side and directly opposite it a counter with the sink. Above the counter is a hole in the wall to look into the living room (like a bar). I don’t have a kettle, so I pulled out the small pot and put it on the stove filled with water. I turned to the sink and was watching a podcast on my laptop. I was eating my dinner when I heard this crackling noise. I stopped moving to make sure it wasn’t me wrinkling the brown bag or something. It wasn’t. And then there was this smell I didn’t really understand. I turned around to the oven and it took me a second before I realized what was going on. At first glance, everything looked normal. Then I realized that the burner with the water on it was not bright red. The burner with the TEA bags on it WAS. I was shocked. Then the fire detector starts going off. I grabbed the pot full of tea bags and everything looks normal. They were dry bags, so I figured they were just singed. Just in case, I put a plate over the top of it so it would lose any air. I went into the hallway and took down the fire detector that had fallen on me. I had to hit it a few times to get it to stop. Then I went back to the kitchen. I take the plate off and all is fine. So I go to put the smoke detector back up and all of a sudden the whole place is full of smoke. I couldn’t figure out what was going on. I went back to the pot and picked up a few tea bags – they were almost half black, but not on fire. Then I found the culprit. Two bags were made of plastic and the plastic had melted and the inside tea bags had caught on fire – they were slowly burning beneath the other tea bags. I tried blowing it out, which of course doesn’t work, so I finally filled the pot with water and put it in the sink. I waved my towel around to get rid of the smoke. The place still smelt funny, which I guess is what happens when you set fire to herbs and spices in small cloth pouches. Sigh.
Of course, this only made me more determined for some tea. So I turned on the correct burner and then almost forgot about the boiling water. I need a timer I think to remind me of important things like that. I had tea from the box which was luckily not in the pot. It also just happens to be my favorite tea from france – reglisse menthe. It was all saved, but now I feel I have to ration it – only 20 bags left. Sad. L I couldn’t smell it, either, because of the smoky / sooty / amalgamation of burnt tea smell in the air. things like this always happen to me in the kitchen. I should just not be allowed in.
Later that night I went to the oven and double-checked that all the burners were off. I poured out the water from the tea bag pot which now smelt really bizarre and had a really dark rust color to it. If it hadn’t been sitting in burnt paper all night I might’ve tried drinking it… wait. probably not.
Monday, August 24, 2009
left in the wrong world part 1
i genuinely like my job. i like the work: it's interesting and ... well, to be fair - not that difficult. BUT being here is not easy for me. it all started last week when i noticed a "palin power" bumper sticker on a co-workers car. this surprised and disheartened me. then, the next day, i overheard my coworkers saying things like how when his kid is in 3rd grade, his textbooks are going to talk about 9/11 and the 2000 election and blame the financial crisis on all that and he's going to have to sit his son down and tell him how it REALLY happened. then they talked about senator barney frank and the town meeting in ma. and i quote: "...that tells you how messed up massachusetts is."
i IMed my "boss" in boston and said "i don't think you're paying me enough." he instantly knew what i was talking about.
BUT there is a shining moment - i am going to bring you all the goodies in my new segment: left in the wrong world.
i IMed my "boss" in boston and said "i don't think you're paying me enough." he instantly knew what i was talking about.
BUT there is a shining moment - i am going to bring you all the goodies in my new segment: left in the wrong world.
Friday, August 21, 2009
shiny happy people
good evening, governor. i didn't want to go another night without posting something, so i thought i would put up a few random things. i had a big week and have a lot to write about, so i will have to spend some time online this weekend. until then... enjoy.
- article that my friend gidge sent me a while ago that i am just now getting around to reading. it talks about how north dakotans are considered the happiest people in the country - shout out to my homies in nodak!
"The nicest Americans, who share the agreeableness personality trait and are said to be warm, co-operative and friendly, are from States such as North Dakota, North Carolina and Georgia"
No wonder people easily confuse north dakota with north carolina!
- here is a great video my friend bobby sent me years ago. it shows that fox news actually has a sense of humor that's funny! (albeit this is a local news station.... one can hope!)
Monday, August 17, 2009
walking on sunshine
So… I’m in Columbus. And “settled” in my apartment. I haven’t finished unpacking, which was half of my goal for Sunday, and I am disappointed I didn’t get to it. But, it’s not my fault.
You see… I landed on time in Columbus after hours of travel on 3 hours of sleep. In the airport, I found some chairs that no one was sitting on and laid down with my feet bent and tried to sleep. I think I got a half hour of rest. I was EXHAUSTED. I’m not used to this go, go, go of the past few weeks. I have to build up my stamina again.
Anyway, in Columbus I had to get a stupid trolley thing because I had 5 pieces of luggage (2 suitcases, 2 carry-ons and a box with my work computer). Got the rental car no problem – a cute teeny little gray Hyundai. Or is it grey? Gray. And hot. It’s very hot outside. Humid and gross. I drive to my “corporate” apartment (will explain later) and go up to the office to check in. They have been expecting me. Rebecca and Preston are hanging out to help me. This is a new experience for me: an apartment building having an OFFICE to run things. In boston, you’d be lucky if your landlord had an office.
So they make me RE-SIGN the documents I paid $8 to fax to them last week. That included a lease (fine – whatever) and about 5 addendums. One of the addendums annoyed me again. Background story: I agreed to rent this apartment a few weeks ago and they told me the cost was $1200 per month (with furniture) and that included everything (heat, water, etc). Then they send me the lease and a document that I have to sign (one of the addendums) saying that I agree to get renter’s insurance of up to $300,000. wtf. So I call State Farm in Ohio and get a policy. It costs me something like $11 / month. Stupid. So fine, I do it. Then I get to the rental office in Columbus and there are MORE papers to sign. There is a form to fill out if I want guests to have access to my place. There is a form releasing them of liability if packages from fed ex or ups are delivered to their office. Half the forms don’t make sense. For example, the Fed Ex form says, “you must have packages left at your door.” Then later it says “when packages are left in the office, we have no liability.” Well, you just said they had to be left at the door. Now you accept them? I sign a form agreeing to check the smoke detector once a week. It explains how to check that the batteries are working. I have to agree to the charges they are going to charge me when I move out - $35 for a carpet cleaning, $20 for a broken window, $40 for a broken window AND to repaint the frame, etc. I mean, the WHOLE page is full of charges. I was like, “seriously? I’m renting this place for a month. I have two whole suitcases. I don’t know anyone in town so I’m not going to be throwing rager parties. It’s not like I even have the MEANS to clean the place. I’m not going to go buy Lysol and toilet bowl cleaner and windex and pledge just for one month.” I thought this was a “corporate” apartment. Apparently not. It’s more of an apartment that’s furnished. Whatever. Cleaning fees. Stupid.
Then I start to ask about internet. They seem surprised that I want it. Who doesn’t want internet?? so they tell me the internet is free, but they hand me a sheet to sign on which I see other options such as upgrading. I ask about the upgrade and they say that it’s only $10. “Normal / free” internet is something like 250 / 125 download upload speed. I don’t know much about this sort of thing, but I KNOW that is not good. Especially since I am such a big podcast downloader. So, I ask for the $10/month upgrade which is like 1,000 download 750 upload or something like that. Or is it the other way around? While Rebecca is showing the building to some 20 year old college kid, Preston and I talk about the internet. I say, “I have a work laptop and a personal laptop. I can just use those both, right?” He says, “yeah, you just have to use the same login and password.” Password AND login? What is that for? I’m imagining a normal connection where I pick the network and type in a password. WELL, turns out that this is hotel-style and when I try to connect to the internet, a web page pops up and I have to log in with my distinct login and password, which I have to give to them to give to the company. Is that weird or what? So fine, what-ever. Rebecca comes back and sees I want internet. I didn’t check the box for a second user to log on. That’s just stupid. Why should I have to pay an extra $5 to have a 2nd computer online. Especially when I’ll only be using one at a time. So she says that there is a $15 fee to sign up for internet. I was like, “you said it was free.” She explained that everyone has to pay the $15 fee, that’s what the company charges them to set the connection up. It has nothing to do with the fact that I’m getting the upgraded internet. I said, “well, that’s misleading.” She tries to explain again that EVERYONE pays the $15 fee. I said, “I know, I realize that. I’m saying it’s misleading to tell people that Internet is free and not tell them they have to pay a $15 fee to sign up. Then it’s not free.” She says, “well, that’s how we do it here, I’m sorry if that wasn’t explained to you.” No, that was not explained to me. Nor was the slow connection rate. Nor was the fee for the insurance. This whole thing is starting to grate on me. So do you want to know the password I chose for my stupid upgraded internet? 5and10u. as in they are trying to nickel and dime me all the way to the bank. So they run my credit card AGAIN for that. THEN they give me this form to sign which is their internet policy. Wtf. An internet policy?? Yes, I have to agree to not download porn (ok, fine, but why is that their business??), not steal music or anything illegal like that, etc. I finally realized where I am. I’m in a fucking dorm. Yes, I am back in college. GREAT.
So they hand me this folder with copies of all the documents I have just signed – all 30 of them. It also includes a list of cleaning products to use and not use in the apartment. For example, windex is ok, but Lysol is not. And one last paper. It’s one of those carbon-copy things with all the rooms listed on it. I have to go through the apartment and write down all the things that are wrong with it, so I don’t get charged. More proof that I’m in a really expensive dorm room.
By this time, I’m just sighing all of my annoyances away. I go to my apartment and lit-er-a-lly, it is NINETY DEGREES INSIDE. And the AC is on. Its clearly not working. The rest of the place is… ok. The carpet is stained. There are chips in the linoleum in the kitchen. There are cobwebs in the corners. The hallway (outside) smells like my grandma’s old apartment building. But the furniture is cute. Really cute. It’s modern and totally my style. One high point. I wait about 10 minutes to see if the AC just didn’t get started until that morning or what. It’s just getting hotter and I’m dripping with sweat. I head back to the office. By this time I’m hot and annoyed and sticky and tired. I’m very cranky. I walk in and tell them about the AC. They agree to call the maintenance guy and tell me he’ll head to my apartment. I start bringing my luggage into my place when I realize I can drive a lot closer. It’s so muggy out, I can barely bring my suitcases up the two flights of stairs. It’s not possible to attempt to bring both at one time. I sit in the hot room and just wait to cool down. No go. I try unpacking but it’s too hot. After a half hour, just as I’m about to leave to run errands so I can sit in an air conditioned car, he arrives. He agrees its hot, but he’s already sweaty and dirty. I don’t want to know where he’s been. So he opens up the AC unit and takes out the filter. It is completely black with two inches of gunk on it. “that’s why!” he exclaims. I’m so relieved. He says he has to go get something and he’ll be right back. I don’t want to wait, but I also don’t want him to be in my apartment alone and I want to make sure it gets fixed so I know if I have to go to a hotel to sleep the night. He comes back. We start chatting. He asks where I’m from and I have this great new tip to “attempt” to explain myself, “well, I worked in boston, but I’m originally from north Dakota.” “oh, so you know about hot then,” he says. ?? I’m trying to work this out in my head. Boston, although blazing hot in the summer, most people don’t think of it like that. And no one thinks north Dakota is hot, even though it does get ungodly hot for a few weeks. “yeah…” I reply. And then I ask, “are you from columus?” “Toledo, actually.” Ahhh, I’m thinking. No idea. Toledo, ohio? That sounds right. Must be in ohio. And then he says, “about the same parallel from north Dakota.” I’m frozen as I think about this. I’m pretty sure Toledo is in ohio. Then I realize, ooooohhhhh. He’s thinking north CAROLINA. Which is hot. I didn’t say anything. He was a really nice guy and he can do work I could never do. He just doesn’t know much about geography.
Despite promises a few times that he was almost done, it took him an hour to fix the AC thingie. By the end, it was like 88 degrees in the apartment, so I was pleased. Oh, I forgot to mention the part about the tv. So when I got to my apartment, before the maintenance guy showed up, I turned on the tv for some background noise. It doesn’t work. I check the cables and the channels and no go. I called the office and said, “hii preston, it’s too hot to walk back so I thought I would just call.” He laughs. I ask about the cable and he asks Rebecca who I hear in the background say, “it’s not included.” Are. You. Kidding. Me. I tell them that its weird to include a tv in a furnished place and not the cable. But then I remember I’m not in a corporate apartment, just a furnished dorm room. So I ask who I can get it with and he tells me time warner. Lovely. Oh, and also, “how come the internet isn’t working?” I ask innocently. He explains that the internet company is only open during the work week, so he can’t submit the password until then. Wtf. I say, “well, that’s not good because I’m supposed to be working from home before work tomorrow.” He says he’ll get back to me. He calls after the maintenance guy leaves and tells me that the internet won’t work today. He tells me borders books down the street has free internet. GREAT. THANKS.
I can hardly get up I’ve been beaten down so much by the day. But I need toilet paper and shampoo and conditioner for the next day. I head out to find CVS and Trader Joe’s. going to Trader Joe’s put me in better spirits. I got some bubbly (cava) for me to celebrate my arrival in CMH, but by the time I got home and ate a bit, I was too tired. I couldn’t drink it. The apartment was normal, so that’s good. I went to bed around 9:30 hoping to get 8 hours of sleep before work. I didn’t unpack and hardly put away my new purchases. I was too tired. Of course, I don’t end up sleeping all night – I woke up at 3am and couldn’t fall back asleep. Stupid body and stupid sleep schedule.
Ok, this is incredibly long, but I wanted to detail all the frustrations with my new place so you understand why I am now looking for a sublet in Columbus for the last three months of my stay. If you’ve got any tips, let me know.
You see… I landed on time in Columbus after hours of travel on 3 hours of sleep. In the airport, I found some chairs that no one was sitting on and laid down with my feet bent and tried to sleep. I think I got a half hour of rest. I was EXHAUSTED. I’m not used to this go, go, go of the past few weeks. I have to build up my stamina again.
Anyway, in Columbus I had to get a stupid trolley thing because I had 5 pieces of luggage (2 suitcases, 2 carry-ons and a box with my work computer). Got the rental car no problem – a cute teeny little gray Hyundai. Or is it grey? Gray. And hot. It’s very hot outside. Humid and gross. I drive to my “corporate” apartment (will explain later) and go up to the office to check in. They have been expecting me. Rebecca and Preston are hanging out to help me. This is a new experience for me: an apartment building having an OFFICE to run things. In boston, you’d be lucky if your landlord had an office.
So they make me RE-SIGN the documents I paid $8 to fax to them last week. That included a lease (fine – whatever) and about 5 addendums. One of the addendums annoyed me again. Background story: I agreed to rent this apartment a few weeks ago and they told me the cost was $1200 per month (with furniture) and that included everything (heat, water, etc). Then they send me the lease and a document that I have to sign (one of the addendums) saying that I agree to get renter’s insurance of up to $300,000. wtf. So I call State Farm in Ohio and get a policy. It costs me something like $11 / month. Stupid. So fine, I do it. Then I get to the rental office in Columbus and there are MORE papers to sign. There is a form to fill out if I want guests to have access to my place. There is a form releasing them of liability if packages from fed ex or ups are delivered to their office. Half the forms don’t make sense. For example, the Fed Ex form says, “you must have packages left at your door.” Then later it says “when packages are left in the office, we have no liability.” Well, you just said they had to be left at the door. Now you accept them? I sign a form agreeing to check the smoke detector once a week. It explains how to check that the batteries are working. I have to agree to the charges they are going to charge me when I move out - $35 for a carpet cleaning, $20 for a broken window, $40 for a broken window AND to repaint the frame, etc. I mean, the WHOLE page is full of charges. I was like, “seriously? I’m renting this place for a month. I have two whole suitcases. I don’t know anyone in town so I’m not going to be throwing rager parties. It’s not like I even have the MEANS to clean the place. I’m not going to go buy Lysol and toilet bowl cleaner and windex and pledge just for one month.” I thought this was a “corporate” apartment. Apparently not. It’s more of an apartment that’s furnished. Whatever. Cleaning fees. Stupid.
Then I start to ask about internet. They seem surprised that I want it. Who doesn’t want internet?? so they tell me the internet is free, but they hand me a sheet to sign on which I see other options such as upgrading. I ask about the upgrade and they say that it’s only $10. “Normal / free” internet is something like 250 / 125 download upload speed. I don’t know much about this sort of thing, but I KNOW that is not good. Especially since I am such a big podcast downloader. So, I ask for the $10/month upgrade which is like 1,000 download 750 upload or something like that. Or is it the other way around? While Rebecca is showing the building to some 20 year old college kid, Preston and I talk about the internet. I say, “I have a work laptop and a personal laptop. I can just use those both, right?” He says, “yeah, you just have to use the same login and password.” Password AND login? What is that for? I’m imagining a normal connection where I pick the network and type in a password. WELL, turns out that this is hotel-style and when I try to connect to the internet, a web page pops up and I have to log in with my distinct login and password, which I have to give to them to give to the company. Is that weird or what? So fine, what-ever. Rebecca comes back and sees I want internet. I didn’t check the box for a second user to log on. That’s just stupid. Why should I have to pay an extra $5 to have a 2nd computer online. Especially when I’ll only be using one at a time. So she says that there is a $15 fee to sign up for internet. I was like, “you said it was free.” She explained that everyone has to pay the $15 fee, that’s what the company charges them to set the connection up. It has nothing to do with the fact that I’m getting the upgraded internet. I said, “well, that’s misleading.” She tries to explain again that EVERYONE pays the $15 fee. I said, “I know, I realize that. I’m saying it’s misleading to tell people that Internet is free and not tell them they have to pay a $15 fee to sign up. Then it’s not free.” She says, “well, that’s how we do it here, I’m sorry if that wasn’t explained to you.” No, that was not explained to me. Nor was the slow connection rate. Nor was the fee for the insurance. This whole thing is starting to grate on me. So do you want to know the password I chose for my stupid upgraded internet? 5and10u. as in they are trying to nickel and dime me all the way to the bank. So they run my credit card AGAIN for that. THEN they give me this form to sign which is their internet policy. Wtf. An internet policy?? Yes, I have to agree to not download porn (ok, fine, but why is that their business??), not steal music or anything illegal like that, etc. I finally realized where I am. I’m in a fucking dorm. Yes, I am back in college. GREAT.
So they hand me this folder with copies of all the documents I have just signed – all 30 of them. It also includes a list of cleaning products to use and not use in the apartment. For example, windex is ok, but Lysol is not. And one last paper. It’s one of those carbon-copy things with all the rooms listed on it. I have to go through the apartment and write down all the things that are wrong with it, so I don’t get charged. More proof that I’m in a really expensive dorm room.
By this time, I’m just sighing all of my annoyances away. I go to my apartment and lit-er-a-lly, it is NINETY DEGREES INSIDE. And the AC is on. Its clearly not working. The rest of the place is… ok. The carpet is stained. There are chips in the linoleum in the kitchen. There are cobwebs in the corners. The hallway (outside) smells like my grandma’s old apartment building. But the furniture is cute. Really cute. It’s modern and totally my style. One high point. I wait about 10 minutes to see if the AC just didn’t get started until that morning or what. It’s just getting hotter and I’m dripping with sweat. I head back to the office. By this time I’m hot and annoyed and sticky and tired. I’m very cranky. I walk in and tell them about the AC. They agree to call the maintenance guy and tell me he’ll head to my apartment. I start bringing my luggage into my place when I realize I can drive a lot closer. It’s so muggy out, I can barely bring my suitcases up the two flights of stairs. It’s not possible to attempt to bring both at one time. I sit in the hot room and just wait to cool down. No go. I try unpacking but it’s too hot. After a half hour, just as I’m about to leave to run errands so I can sit in an air conditioned car, he arrives. He agrees its hot, but he’s already sweaty and dirty. I don’t want to know where he’s been. So he opens up the AC unit and takes out the filter. It is completely black with two inches of gunk on it. “that’s why!” he exclaims. I’m so relieved. He says he has to go get something and he’ll be right back. I don’t want to wait, but I also don’t want him to be in my apartment alone and I want to make sure it gets fixed so I know if I have to go to a hotel to sleep the night. He comes back. We start chatting. He asks where I’m from and I have this great new tip to “attempt” to explain myself, “well, I worked in boston, but I’m originally from north Dakota.” “oh, so you know about hot then,” he says. ?? I’m trying to work this out in my head. Boston, although blazing hot in the summer, most people don’t think of it like that. And no one thinks north Dakota is hot, even though it does get ungodly hot for a few weeks. “yeah…” I reply. And then I ask, “are you from columus?” “Toledo, actually.” Ahhh, I’m thinking. No idea. Toledo, ohio? That sounds right. Must be in ohio. And then he says, “about the same parallel from north Dakota.” I’m frozen as I think about this. I’m pretty sure Toledo is in ohio. Then I realize, ooooohhhhh. He’s thinking north CAROLINA. Which is hot. I didn’t say anything. He was a really nice guy and he can do work I could never do. He just doesn’t know much about geography.
Despite promises a few times that he was almost done, it took him an hour to fix the AC thingie. By the end, it was like 88 degrees in the apartment, so I was pleased. Oh, I forgot to mention the part about the tv. So when I got to my apartment, before the maintenance guy showed up, I turned on the tv for some background noise. It doesn’t work. I check the cables and the channels and no go. I called the office and said, “hii preston, it’s too hot to walk back so I thought I would just call.” He laughs. I ask about the cable and he asks Rebecca who I hear in the background say, “it’s not included.” Are. You. Kidding. Me. I tell them that its weird to include a tv in a furnished place and not the cable. But then I remember I’m not in a corporate apartment, just a furnished dorm room. So I ask who I can get it with and he tells me time warner. Lovely. Oh, and also, “how come the internet isn’t working?” I ask innocently. He explains that the internet company is only open during the work week, so he can’t submit the password until then. Wtf. I say, “well, that’s not good because I’m supposed to be working from home before work tomorrow.” He says he’ll get back to me. He calls after the maintenance guy leaves and tells me that the internet won’t work today. He tells me borders books down the street has free internet. GREAT. THANKS.
I can hardly get up I’ve been beaten down so much by the day. But I need toilet paper and shampoo and conditioner for the next day. I head out to find CVS and Trader Joe’s. going to Trader Joe’s put me in better spirits. I got some bubbly (cava) for me to celebrate my arrival in CMH, but by the time I got home and ate a bit, I was too tired. I couldn’t drink it. The apartment was normal, so that’s good. I went to bed around 9:30 hoping to get 8 hours of sleep before work. I didn’t unpack and hardly put away my new purchases. I was too tired. Of course, I don’t end up sleeping all night – I woke up at 3am and couldn’t fall back asleep. Stupid body and stupid sleep schedule.
Ok, this is incredibly long, but I wanted to detail all the frustrations with my new place so you understand why I am now looking for a sublet in Columbus for the last three months of my stay. If you’ve got any tips, let me know.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
i love to move in here
fatigue is trying to overcome me. will. not. let. it. get. me.
i’m in chicago’s o’hare airport. or is it o’hair? o say can you see... i am on my way to columbus to be a productive member of society (read: work and pay taxes) and have a 3+ hour layover. this is after my 5:55am flight out of fargo. happily, its a short flight to cmh from chi. less than an hour. then i have to get my rental car, check into my apartment, unpack, get groceries, go to target, figure out how to get to work, etc. i love being busy. but not while i’m tired. i might have to take a nap or maybe the crisp columbus air will propel me forward! let’s hope.
so let’s just chat quickly about chicago. and chicago’s pizza to be specific. when i moved to boston, there was an Uno’s restaurant practically on campus and people liked going there to eat. i hated it. i avoided it whenever possible. why? because i was traumatized by chicago pizza in high school. when i was hmmm... either a junior or a senior, i went on a school trip to chicago for the national fbla convention (future business leaders of america). i won 1st place in the interview category at the state competition in minot, nd -- that was senior year i’m pretty sure -- and thus was allowed to go to the national convention held in chicago. it was my first time in chicago and i had a great time. i was with the north dakota delegation and we went to the aquarium and the boardwalk and shopping downtown. and one night we set out on foot from our hotel to find a place to eat. we ended up at the original pizzeria uno restaurant and i ordered a chicago-style pesto pizza. it sounded delicious. i had no idea what chicago-style pizza was, but it was pizza. could it be so bad? the answer is yes. it can be horrible. the pizza came and as soon as i lifted one slice out of the TRAY it came in, a puddle of water or oil or SOMETHING formed at the bottom. it soaked the crust of the rest of the pizza. and there was so much cheese and crust, it made me ill. it ruined pizza for me for a while. and almost permanently ruined chicago-style pizza and uno’s. i have not had deep-dish pizza since.
so today while i’m in the airport, i was looking for food. i had a delicious fruit smoothie when i woke up at 4am and when i landed i had half an auntie anne’s pretzel. i was lokoing for something more substantial but know to stay away from chicago-style pizza. i found a food court but they were mostly serving greek salads or cinnabons, neither of which i am fond of. there was one place that had no people in line - it was a pizza place with cute little pizzas. it said “famous butter crust.” i had no idea what a butter crust was, and the pizzas didn’t look greasy or super-deep dish, so i thought i’d try it. could it be so bad? the answer, again, is yes. i assumed butter crust meant they brushed butter on the crust after it was baked. no. this is not a butter crust. a butter crust seems to be made, in my opinion, by taking a stick of butter, flattening it, putting it between two pieces of crust and cooking it. it was nasty. i took one bite and thought, “what the hell did i get myself into?” the cheese wasn’t great, the sauce was uninteresting. i was sorely disappointed. i nibbled some of the cheese off the crust and stayed away. word to the wise: butter crust pizza is BAD. now i know why there was no one in line at this place. i hate wasting food. but i hate eating food i don’t like even more.
i just realized i think i’m at the wrong gate. crap.
i’m in chicago’s o’hare airport. or is it o’hair? o say can you see... i am on my way to columbus to be a productive member of society (read: work and pay taxes) and have a 3+ hour layover. this is after my 5:55am flight out of fargo. happily, its a short flight to cmh from chi. less than an hour. then i have to get my rental car, check into my apartment, unpack, get groceries, go to target, figure out how to get to work, etc. i love being busy. but not while i’m tired. i might have to take a nap or maybe the crisp columbus air will propel me forward! let’s hope.
so let’s just chat quickly about chicago. and chicago’s pizza to be specific. when i moved to boston, there was an Uno’s restaurant practically on campus and people liked going there to eat. i hated it. i avoided it whenever possible. why? because i was traumatized by chicago pizza in high school. when i was hmmm... either a junior or a senior, i went on a school trip to chicago for the national fbla convention (future business leaders of america). i won 1st place in the interview category at the state competition in minot, nd -- that was senior year i’m pretty sure -- and thus was allowed to go to the national convention held in chicago. it was my first time in chicago and i had a great time. i was with the north dakota delegation and we went to the aquarium and the boardwalk and shopping downtown. and one night we set out on foot from our hotel to find a place to eat. we ended up at the original pizzeria uno restaurant and i ordered a chicago-style pesto pizza. it sounded delicious. i had no idea what chicago-style pizza was, but it was pizza. could it be so bad? the answer is yes. it can be horrible. the pizza came and as soon as i lifted one slice out of the TRAY it came in, a puddle of water or oil or SOMETHING formed at the bottom. it soaked the crust of the rest of the pizza. and there was so much cheese and crust, it made me ill. it ruined pizza for me for a while. and almost permanently ruined chicago-style pizza and uno’s. i have not had deep-dish pizza since.
so today while i’m in the airport, i was looking for food. i had a delicious fruit smoothie when i woke up at 4am and when i landed i had half an auntie anne’s pretzel. i was lokoing for something more substantial but know to stay away from chicago-style pizza. i found a food court but they were mostly serving greek salads or cinnabons, neither of which i am fond of. there was one place that had no people in line - it was a pizza place with cute little pizzas. it said “famous butter crust.” i had no idea what a butter crust was, and the pizzas didn’t look greasy or super-deep dish, so i thought i’d try it. could it be so bad? the answer, again, is yes. i assumed butter crust meant they brushed butter on the crust after it was baked. no. this is not a butter crust. a butter crust seems to be made, in my opinion, by taking a stick of butter, flattening it, putting it between two pieces of crust and cooking it. it was nasty. i took one bite and thought, “what the hell did i get myself into?” the cheese wasn’t great, the sauce was uninteresting. i was sorely disappointed. i nibbled some of the cheese off the crust and stayed away. word to the wise: butter crust pizza is BAD. now i know why there was no one in line at this place. i hate wasting food. but i hate eating food i don’t like even more.
i just realized i think i’m at the wrong gate. crap.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
dream apartment - 1
just a quick note. i've decided to make an on-going post of things i desire in my dream apartment. here is the first pot filler faucet. AWESOME. yeah, i don't really cook, but it still seems to be something incredibly handy and fancy and just necessary.
insane in the membrane
exciting day!
two posts today because today ended up being so fun and full of surprises. i can't remember the last time i was this busy and doing so many things that i enjoyed. woo hoo.
i thought today was going to be horrible because it was something like 85 degrees - my boiling point is at least ten degrees less. bleh. my cousins sara and kayla picked me up for lunch. we then picked up kayla's sister, kelsey, who just happens to also be my cousin - funny how that works, eh? and went to the drunken noodle in downtown fargo. what a cute place! i definitely recommend it if anyone is stopping by the area. pretty much every kind of noodle that you could want is there. actually, i don't know because i only know like 3 kinds of noodles, but they were all there. they have mac and cheese (gross), pastas (yuck), and then WONDERLUF asian noodles - drunken noodles, pad thai, and others. when i hear "drunken noodles" i assume asian noodles, of course. i was shocked to see the other types of noodles there. at first i thought i wouldn't eat anything until i saw the last and best section: asian noodles. anyway, i was about to tell my cousins about the ONE food that makes me naseous - fettucini alfredo - when i thought better of it. i did that once right before my brother ordered it and he got upset because then he didn't want to eat it. of course, two of my cousins ordered the dreaded dish. for some reason, alfredo sauce makes me throw up a little in my mouth every time i smell it. i didn't say anything and i'm glad i didn't. i couldn't smell it when they brought it to our table, so i was happy. the pad thai was DELISH.
anyway, then i got dropped off at babb's coffee shop to wait for homie's gf. she and i spent a good few hours shopping and catching up. i had a good time and bought a ton of jewelry and a few cards that i am going to send out - zaz. if i were to win a million dollars, i think i would definitely buy some art at some of the galleries we stopped in today. there are a ton of CUTE shops in downtown fargo. bravo, fargo!
lindsay dropped me off at home because she had to work. i finished a french movie in my room since no one else was home. it was difficult for me to watch. i ripped it on to my computer and clicked to add english subtitles because sometimes i miss a word or two in french and i like to have the backup. well, i must've screwed up or something because i ripped the subtitles AND english voices. which totally ruined the movie for me - i HATE watching dubbed movies. although, jean reno was in the movie and i'm pretty sure he did his own english speaking, so kudos to him.
my mom and i were sitting around watching tv later when the deck door opened. we assumed it was my dad and didn't say anything. i was thinking, "weird how no one is talking." usually when my dad walks in he calls out hello. all of a sudden, my littlest brother, who lives in bismarck and is working in grand forks this week, walks into the living room. !! we were shocked. his boss was coming to fargo for a few hours to hang out with his kids, so player hitched a ride to come hang out with us. what a great surprise.
so player and i ate grilled cheese sandwiches that mom made - i haven't had one of those in YEARS and then played battleship (i won). we were hanging out when my dad called player to tell him about his great golf game - he shot a 70! - on his way home from the golf course. they talked for ten minutes or so and then hung up when my dad pulled into the garage. player said, "he'll be walking in the door in two seconds" and then right after that, "crap! my shoes are at the door." if it had been me, i would not have noticed another pair of size 14 shoes, but as soon as my dad walked in, we could hear him, "whose shoes are these?" from the other room, i called out, "hi dad!" and he asked again, "who's here? whose shoes are these? did jon stop by?" i replied, "no, jon's not here." my dad didn't bother coming in to the living room - i can just imagine him staring at the shoes trying to figure out whose they were. finally, he walks in and he sees my brothers feet before he sees my brother, "oh, jon is here." and then stops because it's not jon, its the other brother! it was a fun surprise. since we were waiting for my brother's boss to come get him to head back to grand forks, the three of us sat around and watched wipeout. i love watching comedies with my brother because he laughs really hard and enjoys comedy.
so he left and my dad went to bed. i'm up with a perfect end to the day - food network. who will be the next to be chopped??
two posts today because today ended up being so fun and full of surprises. i can't remember the last time i was this busy and doing so many things that i enjoyed. woo hoo.
i thought today was going to be horrible because it was something like 85 degrees - my boiling point is at least ten degrees less. bleh. my cousins sara and kayla picked me up for lunch. we then picked up kayla's sister, kelsey, who just happens to also be my cousin - funny how that works, eh? and went to the drunken noodle in downtown fargo. what a cute place! i definitely recommend it if anyone is stopping by the area. pretty much every kind of noodle that you could want is there. actually, i don't know because i only know like 3 kinds of noodles, but they were all there. they have mac and cheese (gross), pastas (yuck), and then WONDERLUF asian noodles - drunken noodles, pad thai, and others. when i hear "drunken noodles" i assume asian noodles, of course. i was shocked to see the other types of noodles there. at first i thought i wouldn't eat anything until i saw the last and best section: asian noodles. anyway, i was about to tell my cousins about the ONE food that makes me naseous - fettucini alfredo - when i thought better of it. i did that once right before my brother ordered it and he got upset because then he didn't want to eat it. of course, two of my cousins ordered the dreaded dish. for some reason, alfredo sauce makes me throw up a little in my mouth every time i smell it. i didn't say anything and i'm glad i didn't. i couldn't smell it when they brought it to our table, so i was happy. the pad thai was DELISH.
anyway, then i got dropped off at babb's coffee shop to wait for homie's gf. she and i spent a good few hours shopping and catching up. i had a good time and bought a ton of jewelry and a few cards that i am going to send out - zaz. if i were to win a million dollars, i think i would definitely buy some art at some of the galleries we stopped in today. there are a ton of CUTE shops in downtown fargo. bravo, fargo!
lindsay dropped me off at home because she had to work. i finished a french movie in my room since no one else was home. it was difficult for me to watch. i ripped it on to my computer and clicked to add english subtitles because sometimes i miss a word or two in french and i like to have the backup. well, i must've screwed up or something because i ripped the subtitles AND english voices. which totally ruined the movie for me - i HATE watching dubbed movies. although, jean reno was in the movie and i'm pretty sure he did his own english speaking, so kudos to him.
my mom and i were sitting around watching tv later when the deck door opened. we assumed it was my dad and didn't say anything. i was thinking, "weird how no one is talking." usually when my dad walks in he calls out hello. all of a sudden, my littlest brother, who lives in bismarck and is working in grand forks this week, walks into the living room. !! we were shocked. his boss was coming to fargo for a few hours to hang out with his kids, so player hitched a ride to come hang out with us. what a great surprise.
so player and i ate grilled cheese sandwiches that mom made - i haven't had one of those in YEARS and then played battleship (i won). we were hanging out when my dad called player to tell him about his great golf game - he shot a 70! - on his way home from the golf course. they talked for ten minutes or so and then hung up when my dad pulled into the garage. player said, "he'll be walking in the door in two seconds" and then right after that, "crap! my shoes are at the door." if it had been me, i would not have noticed another pair of size 14 shoes, but as soon as my dad walked in, we could hear him, "whose shoes are these?" from the other room, i called out, "hi dad!" and he asked again, "who's here? whose shoes are these? did jon stop by?" i replied, "no, jon's not here." my dad didn't bother coming in to the living room - i can just imagine him staring at the shoes trying to figure out whose they were. finally, he walks in and he sees my brothers feet before he sees my brother, "oh, jon is here." and then stops because it's not jon, its the other brother! it was a fun surprise. since we were waiting for my brother's boss to come get him to head back to grand forks, the three of us sat around and watched wipeout. i love watching comedies with my brother because he laughs really hard and enjoys comedy.
so he left and my dad went to bed. i'm up with a perfect end to the day - food network. who will be the next to be chopped??
Monday, August 10, 2009
this is the end...
they say that it takes 21 days for something to become a habit. clearly i am not able to ramble consistently enough for anything to become a habit. here is another [futile] effort...
so. monday. monday monday. so good to me. monday monday. it was all i hoped it would be... or... just another manic monday. wo o-oh. wish it were sunday. cause that's my fun day. actually, it's not. i'm not a sunday fan. is it possible to think of the word "monday" without singing? i don't know.
weekend was ok. last full weekend in fargo. i thought i was going to be helping homie move, but he never called. and i never called him. so i ended up finding player an apartment in bismarck, going for a bike ride, watching a movie and playing settlers of catan with my parents. on saturday, i waited around for a laptop to be delivered and watched the movie jarhead. didn't like. don't like war or fighting. but don't get me started. i almost couldn't remember what else i did. went to this restaurant called ... crap. what's it called? sidestreet? blackstreet? spitfire. yes. spitfire in fargo, nodak. its a good place. good service, although, i am making a vow right now to never go to a BAR to have dinner. i don't like it. it puts me in a bad mood. i didn't realize, at the time, why i was so annoyed, but now i've figured it out. don't coax me to go out under the guise of leaving soon and then take me to a loud place with lots of tvs. if i'm going out for dinner, i want to sit in a restaurant. and i don't want people watching tv. i've only now just realized that is why i don't like half the bar in fargo. they're all sports bars. sports bars are not my thing. which is funny that i am just now realizing this. when my dad visited me in sacramento, some 3 years ago or something, he wanted to go to a sports bar and i was like, "i have NO IDEA where a sports bar is." and i couldn't find one. then when my brother came out to visit me, he really wanted to watch the vikings at a sports bar, so i had to look them up online and we had to drive to a suburb 20 miles away to find one. there are probably others around, but i couldn't find them. funny.
so yes, leaving. today is my last monday in fargo, too, because next sunday i am going to columbus, ohio for 4 months to do some consulting work for my old company. it should be good. i'm planning on not allowing myself to get stressed, go swimming every day (the place i'm staying has a pool!) and take it easy while working and earning some money. i'm most looking forward to using my brain for something other than blog writing and decoding dementia-speak. it shouldn't be too difficult since i've done this at least two other times before (california, new zealand). so that is why i was waiting for a laptop last weekend - my company sent me one to use while i am in ohio. and that is also why my week is so busy this week. like, crazy busy. it's like - i've been here for months and not seen half the people i should, so now i have to cram in all those bonding sessions into one week. this always happens to me. i'm so silly.
today i am (hopefully) having lunch with my cousins. if someone would text me to tell me the plan, that would be wonderluf. or wonderful. or just wonderluf. then i am meeting homie's girlfriend, lindsay, for some shopping and a snack. then i hope to clean my room and start packing tonight. tomorrow i am having lunch with my dear old friend, kj. i also plan on working (read: donating plasma) in the morning and taking my grandma to get her hair done. on wednesday i have to start working from home to get up to speed on the ohio account before i head out there. that will be wed-fri each day. it will be weird having to set an alarm again. in the meantime, i have to get my own hair cut and decide if i want to go get a north dakota drivers license. i also need to try on all these clothes i ordered online and send back the ones i dont want. friday night, player comes to town so i hope to hang out with him a bit and then saturday my mom and i were going to do something at the lake. i forget what. oh, i also have dinner on thursday night with my aunt at the hodo. woo hoo. more packing and trip planning and whatnot. eek!
what did i do on friday night? ugh. je ne sais pas.
i thought i was going to have to get a new license this week - last week, i went to homie's work to make a copy of my license and then fax that copy to the apartment i am renting in ohio. well, the next day i go to the store and can't find my license, which is a california license. [side note: can you believe i lived in boston on-and-off for 9 years and never had a mass license??] i never switched to massachusetts and since coming here a year ago, never switched to north dakota. mostly i don't like to part with IDs. so i am putting it off. i hope they punch a hole in it like they did in california to my nodak license, but i am afraid they are just going to take it from me and then i will have no proof that i was ever in ca. or something. anyway, i LOST my license. and i was worried that i would have to go to the nd dmv and ask for a license and since my nd license expired 2 years ago, they would make me take the driving test again, which you have to make an appointment for months in advance. so i was worried about that. and i was worried that they would take my actual nd license which is expired (because before i got my ca license, i wrote to nodak and got a duplicate copy of my nd license (only $8!) since i told them i lost my license. so when i went to get my ca license, they punched a hole in one and i still had the other. genius!). so now i don't have to because homie found it at his work. or so he says. that would be a sick joke if he didn't really find it. if he did, at least that saves me some time out of my week. but the question remains: do i get an nd license?
and i still can't remember what i did friday night. am i getting old? early-onset dementia? it does run in the family. d'oh! i remember! i went to o'kellys with homie. that was good. i had sushi but i thought i would be creative and get the regular tempura shrimp roll instead of the SPICY tempura shrimp roll and save a buck. well, turns out the buck is worth a lot. 1) the roll substituted spice for EEL sauce, which i don't love and 2) the spicy crab with wasabi makes me want to rip my mouth off, which is a sensation i LOVE. so next time: spicy tempura shrimp roll all the way. then i convinced homie to come over to our house and play settlers of catan with me and my mom. it was a death-fight to the end. between me and mom. homie just couldn't swing it. he was never in the game. too bad. we should play again just so he can prove to me that he can actually play.
and with that, i am going to get ready for my busy day.
so. monday. monday monday. so good to me. monday monday. it was all i hoped it would be... or... just another manic monday. wo o-oh. wish it were sunday. cause that's my fun day. actually, it's not. i'm not a sunday fan. is it possible to think of the word "monday" without singing? i don't know.
weekend was ok. last full weekend in fargo. i thought i was going to be helping homie move, but he never called. and i never called him. so i ended up finding player an apartment in bismarck, going for a bike ride, watching a movie and playing settlers of catan with my parents. on saturday, i waited around for a laptop to be delivered and watched the movie jarhead. didn't like. don't like war or fighting. but don't get me started. i almost couldn't remember what else i did. went to this restaurant called ... crap. what's it called? sidestreet? blackstreet? spitfire. yes. spitfire in fargo, nodak. its a good place. good service, although, i am making a vow right now to never go to a BAR to have dinner. i don't like it. it puts me in a bad mood. i didn't realize, at the time, why i was so annoyed, but now i've figured it out. don't coax me to go out under the guise of leaving soon and then take me to a loud place with lots of tvs. if i'm going out for dinner, i want to sit in a restaurant. and i don't want people watching tv. i've only now just realized that is why i don't like half the bar in fargo. they're all sports bars. sports bars are not my thing. which is funny that i am just now realizing this. when my dad visited me in sacramento, some 3 years ago or something, he wanted to go to a sports bar and i was like, "i have NO IDEA where a sports bar is." and i couldn't find one. then when my brother came out to visit me, he really wanted to watch the vikings at a sports bar, so i had to look them up online and we had to drive to a suburb 20 miles away to find one. there are probably others around, but i couldn't find them. funny.
so yes, leaving. today is my last monday in fargo, too, because next sunday i am going to columbus, ohio for 4 months to do some consulting work for my old company. it should be good. i'm planning on not allowing myself to get stressed, go swimming every day (the place i'm staying has a pool!) and take it easy while working and earning some money. i'm most looking forward to using my brain for something other than blog writing and decoding dementia-speak. it shouldn't be too difficult since i've done this at least two other times before (california, new zealand). so that is why i was waiting for a laptop last weekend - my company sent me one to use while i am in ohio. and that is also why my week is so busy this week. like, crazy busy. it's like - i've been here for months and not seen half the people i should, so now i have to cram in all those bonding sessions into one week. this always happens to me. i'm so silly.
today i am (hopefully) having lunch with my cousins. if someone would text me to tell me the plan, that would be wonderluf. or wonderful. or just wonderluf. then i am meeting homie's girlfriend, lindsay, for some shopping and a snack. then i hope to clean my room and start packing tonight. tomorrow i am having lunch with my dear old friend, kj. i also plan on working (read: donating plasma) in the morning and taking my grandma to get her hair done. on wednesday i have to start working from home to get up to speed on the ohio account before i head out there. that will be wed-fri each day. it will be weird having to set an alarm again. in the meantime, i have to get my own hair cut and decide if i want to go get a north dakota drivers license. i also need to try on all these clothes i ordered online and send back the ones i dont want. friday night, player comes to town so i hope to hang out with him a bit and then saturday my mom and i were going to do something at the lake. i forget what. oh, i also have dinner on thursday night with my aunt at the hodo. woo hoo. more packing and trip planning and whatnot. eek!
what did i do on friday night? ugh. je ne sais pas.
i thought i was going to have to get a new license this week - last week, i went to homie's work to make a copy of my license and then fax that copy to the apartment i am renting in ohio. well, the next day i go to the store and can't find my license, which is a california license. [side note: can you believe i lived in boston on-and-off for 9 years and never had a mass license??] i never switched to massachusetts and since coming here a year ago, never switched to north dakota. mostly i don't like to part with IDs. so i am putting it off. i hope they punch a hole in it like they did in california to my nodak license, but i am afraid they are just going to take it from me and then i will have no proof that i was ever in ca. or something. anyway, i LOST my license. and i was worried that i would have to go to the nd dmv and ask for a license and since my nd license expired 2 years ago, they would make me take the driving test again, which you have to make an appointment for months in advance. so i was worried about that. and i was worried that they would take my actual nd license which is expired (because before i got my ca license, i wrote to nodak and got a duplicate copy of my nd license (only $8!) since i told them i lost my license. so when i went to get my ca license, they punched a hole in one and i still had the other. genius!). so now i don't have to because homie found it at his work. or so he says. that would be a sick joke if he didn't really find it. if he did, at least that saves me some time out of my week. but the question remains: do i get an nd license?
and i still can't remember what i did friday night. am i getting old? early-onset dementia? it does run in the family. d'oh! i remember! i went to o'kellys with homie. that was good. i had sushi but i thought i would be creative and get the regular tempura shrimp roll instead of the SPICY tempura shrimp roll and save a buck. well, turns out the buck is worth a lot. 1) the roll substituted spice for EEL sauce, which i don't love and 2) the spicy crab with wasabi makes me want to rip my mouth off, which is a sensation i LOVE. so next time: spicy tempura shrimp roll all the way. then i convinced homie to come over to our house and play settlers of catan with me and my mom. it was a death-fight to the end. between me and mom. homie just couldn't swing it. he was never in the game. too bad. we should play again just so he can prove to me that he can actually play.
and with that, i am going to get ready for my busy day.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
twitter - HELP!
thanks to my friend, hr, for helping me figure out how to code twitter from so long ago. original message:
follow me on twitternow can someone tell me how to make it a cool box like on this site http://garyvaynerchuk.com/??
@spaceygrl
or better yet, tell me how to put some sort of link here so people can just click on it and then be following me on twitter... i have no idea what i'm doing...
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
don't stop 'til you get enough
i'm kind of annoyed at my neighbors right now. the house to the north of us is only like 8 feet away from ours and they ALWAYS KEEP THEIR BLINDS CLOSED. wtf! i wish they would just leave them open once in a while so i could look in. to see whats going on. preferably at night. with the lights on. while mine are not. i am not a stalker, just curious. i like to look into how people decorate their homes. i swear! i know they're up - their lights are on. just crack the blinds a bit, please!
until i have found something to look at, i shall say one word: success! i was able to play a proper game of settler's of catan! wait. proper? i think my game last night was proper, but i mean to say that i played with other, real people! i convinced my brother to stop by after work and while my dad was golfing (sad face), my brother and mother and i played settlers. i totally thought i was going to win at the beginning, but the die just didn't roll my way. homie won, which is ok. i don't have to win, i just like to play. mom and i thought we would thwart his ability to win, but he triumphed. then homie and i played a few games of mancala, which i beat him 4-2. i know you usually play odd numbers of games, but when i had won 3-2 he wanted to play again - i think he thought he would beat me. and he could leave with a tie. and he didn't. he he. so now i just need to figure out when i can play settlers for the next time... hint, hint.
so every now and then i read some fun articles online and i thought to round out today's rambling, i would give a few personal comments on things in the news and social media recently:
1) news just released that texting while driving is more dangerous than talking on the phone. no shit, sherlock. i could've told you that years ago before texting came out. this is interesting because a few weeks ago, i was going through one of my boxes in the basement and i found this spiral-bound book i made in high school of all the speeches i had ever given (in speech, debate, student congress). in 10th grade, my radio commentary speech was titled "cellular phones: a risky habit or a lucky lifesaver?" this would've been in something like 1996 when cell phones were new and novel. here are the first few paragraphs of my speech:
2) this article i read about freezing your credit cards has a video about destroying credit cards that was mildly funny, but reminded me more about my brother's video from high school as seen here
3) my birthday-mate, chad, alerted me to this article on the economy in bismarck, nd. its a cute little read and for all my unemployed friends out there - come to north daktoa!
4) and speaking of lack of- or less than average recession, this article shows happiness in states around the country. nodak is one of the highest! what state do you live in? and how happy are people around you?
maybe if my neighbors would leave their blinds open, we could bump the happiness in north dakota even more!
5) and finally, for your enjoyment or more likely bewilderment, watch this video. actually, can you tell me if this is just a weird video or is it hopelessly wrong? (which is what i'm leaning towards - seen on boing boing)
until i have found something to look at, i shall say one word: success! i was able to play a proper game of settler's of catan! wait. proper? i think my game last night was proper, but i mean to say that i played with other, real people! i convinced my brother to stop by after work and while my dad was golfing (sad face), my brother and mother and i played settlers. i totally thought i was going to win at the beginning, but the die just didn't roll my way. homie won, which is ok. i don't have to win, i just like to play. mom and i thought we would thwart his ability to win, but he triumphed. then homie and i played a few games of mancala, which i beat him 4-2. i know you usually play odd numbers of games, but when i had won 3-2 he wanted to play again - i think he thought he would beat me. and he could leave with a tie. and he didn't. he he. so now i just need to figure out when i can play settlers for the next time... hint, hint.
so every now and then i read some fun articles online and i thought to round out today's rambling, i would give a few personal comments on things in the news and social media recently:
1) news just released that texting while driving is more dangerous than talking on the phone. no shit, sherlock. i could've told you that years ago before texting came out. this is interesting because a few weeks ago, i was going through one of my boxes in the basement and i found this spiral-bound book i made in high school of all the speeches i had ever given (in speech, debate, student congress). in 10th grade, my radio commentary speech was titled "cellular phones: a risky habit or a lucky lifesaver?" this would've been in something like 1996 when cell phones were new and novel. here are the first few paragraphs of my speech:
Remember the time you were driving down the freeway and all of a sudden, out of no where, a car is swerving in front of you? You slam on the brakes just as the driver swerves into the ditch. Sound familiar?When I found this, I thought it was funny because cell phones are such a huge use in every day life these days.
Chances are, that swerving driver was on his cell phone. According to a study published last month in the New England Jounral of Medicine, driving while you're on the phone quadruples your odds of getting into a car accident.
The study is quick to point out that driving while yaking to your best friend is as risky as driving with the lowest legal limit of alcohol in your system.
The problem seems obvious. If your cell phone is in use, you are a 4.3% higher risk of becoming the next swerving driver, driver in a ditch, or even casulaty in a fatal accident. When you are talking on the phone with someone, you are not paying very much attention to the road. Your driving becomes haphazard and you put not only yourself but other people in danger....
2) this article i read about freezing your credit cards has a video about destroying credit cards that was mildly funny, but reminded me more about my brother's video from high school as seen here
3) my birthday-mate, chad, alerted me to this article on the economy in bismarck, nd. its a cute little read and for all my unemployed friends out there - come to north daktoa!
4) and speaking of lack of- or less than average recession, this article shows happiness in states around the country. nodak is one of the highest! what state do you live in? and how happy are people around you?
maybe if my neighbors would leave their blinds open, we could bump the happiness in north dakota even more!5) and finally, for your enjoyment or more likely bewilderment, watch this video. actually, can you tell me if this is just a weird video or is it hopelessly wrong? (which is what i'm leaning towards - seen on boing boing)
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
wanted: dead or alive
it is now clear to me that i need a hobby. i have just finished playing a board game. by myself...
i recently bought my favorite board game: the settlers of catan. i convinced my parents to play with me last saturday night and instead didn't go to a movie with my brother and his girlfriend (when have you ever heard of me not going to a movie when given the chance??). and today i discovered a new game on my ipod: mancala. it's a perfect game for just 2 people, and since its usually just my mom and i in board-game-playing-mode, i figured i would get it. so, after dinner tonight, i went to target and bought it (it was less than $10). and i got my dad to play with me, so that was cool. but once he went to bed, and my mom was already long in bed, and my brother sent out this tweet at about 8pm tonight: Goodnight ladies and gentlenean, i was left alone. i watched some food network which was all fine and dandy and then i was bored again. i read everything i could stand to online and decided to play settlers of catan.
the game box says 3-4 players must play at a time. last night, i hung out with my youngest brother who was in town for one night for work and we played settlers just the two of us. it was def not as fun (although still an awesome game!) without an extra person, so tonight i took out 3 sets of pieces and set it up. i even played the real way and rolled to see which player would go first and then gave her the best position first. i played the whole game and didn't cheat once! well, i made my own rules, so i didn't cheat according to those rules. only one rule really benefitted me and it wasn't that huge of a deal. luckily, i won. that would have really sucked if i had not won and i was the only player.
so yeah, boredom. or rather hobbies. i see it this way: there are 24 hours in the day. i sleep about 9 hours. that means 13 hours left to fill. say i spend an hour doing "upkeep" - shower, brushing teeth, getting dressed, getting ready for bed, etc. and i am usually online for at least 2 hours. that leaves 10 hours. today i went on a bike ride for 1.5 hours. and listened to podcasts the whole time. that's multi-tasking, so it's like 3 hours of work in half the time! anyway, say i watch 3 hours of tv. and i spend an hour eating. i've lost count, but i think that's something like 4 or 5 hours of boredom a day. and its not like i'm not bored doing some of the other things, as well. so i clearly need a hobby. i like to read and watch movies and organize things, but right now... i just dont seem to want to do any of that. i think i'm afraid that once i do it, i won't have anything left to do and that will be WORSE.
ok, i'm going to go make a plan for tomorrow because i have NOTHING planned. ugh.
i recently bought my favorite board game: the settlers of catan. i convinced my parents to play with me last saturday night and instead didn't go to a movie with my brother and his girlfriend (when have you ever heard of me not going to a movie when given the chance??). and today i discovered a new game on my ipod: mancala. it's a perfect game for just 2 people, and since its usually just my mom and i in board-game-playing-mode, i figured i would get it. so, after dinner tonight, i went to target and bought it (it was less than $10). and i got my dad to play with me, so that was cool. but once he went to bed, and my mom was already long in bed, and my brother sent out this tweet at about 8pm tonight: Goodnight ladies and gentlenean, i was left alone. i watched some food network which was all fine and dandy and then i was bored again. i read everything i could stand to online and decided to play settlers of catan.
the game box says 3-4 players must play at a time. last night, i hung out with my youngest brother who was in town for one night for work and we played settlers just the two of us. it was def not as fun (although still an awesome game!) without an extra person, so tonight i took out 3 sets of pieces and set it up. i even played the real way and rolled to see which player would go first and then gave her the best position first. i played the whole game and didn't cheat once! well, i made my own rules, so i didn't cheat according to those rules. only one rule really benefitted me and it wasn't that huge of a deal. luckily, i won. that would have really sucked if i had not won and i was the only player.
so yeah, boredom. or rather hobbies. i see it this way: there are 24 hours in the day. i sleep about 9 hours. that means 13 hours left to fill. say i spend an hour doing "upkeep" - shower, brushing teeth, getting dressed, getting ready for bed, etc. and i am usually online for at least 2 hours. that leaves 10 hours. today i went on a bike ride for 1.5 hours. and listened to podcasts the whole time. that's multi-tasking, so it's like 3 hours of work in half the time! anyway, say i watch 3 hours of tv. and i spend an hour eating. i've lost count, but i think that's something like 4 or 5 hours of boredom a day. and its not like i'm not bored doing some of the other things, as well. so i clearly need a hobby. i like to read and watch movies and organize things, but right now... i just dont seem to want to do any of that. i think i'm afraid that once i do it, i won't have anything left to do and that will be WORSE.
ok, i'm going to go make a plan for tomorrow because i have NOTHING planned. ugh.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
peaches and cream
[spoiler alert]
i love it when bizarre things make you remember things from SO LONG ago - things you haven't thought of in YEARS. like, when an old high school friend brings up a name that you haven't thought of in 10 years. or when you smell something and it makes you think of your grandparents house before they moved to fargo. or, as in what happened just now for me, you see a movie online and remember 3rd grade...
just a few minutes ago i was flipping through the channels when i noticed turner and hooch was on tbs. its been years since i've seen the movie so i turned the channel. as soon as i saw it, memories came flooding back. i remember very distinctly being at my friend's house for her birthday. i haven't thought of her in years. she only lived in fargo for one year and we became quick friends. her name was andrea and she had very dark hair and very brown eyes. her younger sister was asthmatic and i remember being enthralled by the sister's inhaler. for her birthday, we rented turner and hooch and i could draw out the layout of her house and where i was sitting when we watched the movie. i had a cabage patch kids sleeping bag and long tshirt to sleep in. everyone loved the movie except me. there are two things that have stayed with me since then:
1) big dogs are gross and slobbery. i have ALWAYS thought hooch was disgusting and
2) you could die from a high heeled shoe. i was 9 years old when i first saw this movie and i have always been secretly afraid of showing up with a hole in my forehead that no one could figure out where it came from and my spirit would be saying, "high heel!" "high heel!"
so i'm watching this movie that i haven't seen in almost 20 years (the dog grossed me out so much i haven't re-watched it since i first saw it) and i have a few thoughts. the first, it seems wrong to see tom hanks in his boxers. of any actor i adore, tom hanks is one who is not a sex symbol for me. put on some clothes! secondly, now that i am watching this in my (gasp!) almost-30s, i am thinking, "no WAY is this appropriate for 9 year olds!" but now that i think about it, i'm sure i didn't know what was going on back then... finally, is there any role in which tom hanks has not yelled? if he were my dad and yelled at me with that almost-high voice, i think i would just laugh.
oh gross. the dog is slobbering. bleh.
so i just looked on facebook for my old friend, andrea. she is not listed. i wonder what happened to her. after the year in fargo, her family moved to rochester, mn and i remember two times, my parents drove me a few hours into minnesota and we would meet her family so that she and i could hang out. i wonder if she came to fargo or i went there or we just stayed in the middle. i don't remember exactly but i do remember once being in a hotel room and it was raining, so we went to the store and got board games to play. i think that was on a trip to see her.
i KNEW it was craig t. nelson! from the first 30 seconds i changed the channel, and i swear that i haven't seen this movie in 20 years. i have some sort of bizarre memory to remember weird movie facts. i didn't even remember that he was in this movie. wow. i am so impressed with myself right now.
ok i think thats enough for now. i'm super tired. peach out. i mean peace out.
i love it when bizarre things make you remember things from SO LONG ago - things you haven't thought of in YEARS. like, when an old high school friend brings up a name that you haven't thought of in 10 years. or when you smell something and it makes you think of your grandparents house before they moved to fargo. or, as in what happened just now for me, you see a movie online and remember 3rd grade...
just a few minutes ago i was flipping through the channels when i noticed turner and hooch was on tbs. its been years since i've seen the movie so i turned the channel. as soon as i saw it, memories came flooding back. i remember very distinctly being at my friend's house for her birthday. i haven't thought of her in years. she only lived in fargo for one year and we became quick friends. her name was andrea and she had very dark hair and very brown eyes. her younger sister was asthmatic and i remember being enthralled by the sister's inhaler. for her birthday, we rented turner and hooch and i could draw out the layout of her house and where i was sitting when we watched the movie. i had a cabage patch kids sleeping bag and long tshirt to sleep in. everyone loved the movie except me. there are two things that have stayed with me since then:
1) big dogs are gross and slobbery. i have ALWAYS thought hooch was disgusting and
2) you could die from a high heeled shoe. i was 9 years old when i first saw this movie and i have always been secretly afraid of showing up with a hole in my forehead that no one could figure out where it came from and my spirit would be saying, "high heel!" "high heel!"
so i'm watching this movie that i haven't seen in almost 20 years (the dog grossed me out so much i haven't re-watched it since i first saw it) and i have a few thoughts. the first, it seems wrong to see tom hanks in his boxers. of any actor i adore, tom hanks is one who is not a sex symbol for me. put on some clothes! secondly, now that i am watching this in my (gasp!) almost-30s, i am thinking, "no WAY is this appropriate for 9 year olds!" but now that i think about it, i'm sure i didn't know what was going on back then... finally, is there any role in which tom hanks has not yelled? if he were my dad and yelled at me with that almost-high voice, i think i would just laugh.
oh gross. the dog is slobbering. bleh.
so i just looked on facebook for my old friend, andrea. she is not listed. i wonder what happened to her. after the year in fargo, her family moved to rochester, mn and i remember two times, my parents drove me a few hours into minnesota and we would meet her family so that she and i could hang out. i wonder if she came to fargo or i went there or we just stayed in the middle. i don't remember exactly but i do remember once being in a hotel room and it was raining, so we went to the store and got board games to play. i think that was on a trip to see her.
i KNEW it was craig t. nelson! from the first 30 seconds i changed the channel, and i swear that i haven't seen this movie in 20 years. i have some sort of bizarre memory to remember weird movie facts. i didn't even remember that he was in this movie. wow. i am so impressed with myself right now.
ok i think thats enough for now. i'm super tired. peach out. i mean peace out.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
backpfeifengesicht
so today is august first and its kind of half-way through the year (a little more than, i realize) and it made me re-think about new years resolutions - mostly because i was going through old drafts of ramblings and discovered this one which i never finished which was supposed to be about resolutions. i never made any, which is why i never finished the rambling. in any case, i thought it might be interesting to take a moment and read these articles and think back to how i thought this year would go.
but back to the beginning of 2009. i honestly thought i would be going to africa. that whole kiva-fiasco ended with a loud wimper. then while i planned my next move - i was going to go to asia to volunteer or build houses in new orleans - the region was hit with a massive flood - taking up almost 6 weeks of worry and sandbagging. that was a big distraction and then was my extravagant may vacation heading all over the world. i got back in june and *started* looking for a job and getting things back in order and now its august. and today marks the day that i have been without "real" employment for a year. crazy how time has passed and i don't feel as if i have been doing nothing. although i predict that august will be a relatively boring month because both daisy of love and charm school ended on vhone. i was really bumed last sunday when daisy of love ended - i can't believe she picked london! i mean, i get the whole "dangerous rocker" vibe, but flex was HOT and almost sweet. i guess that's ok, too. now flex is available for when i bump into him at a grocery store in chicago...
so back to resolutions or goals or something. i don't exactly know what i want to do - a little bit of everything. i think, eventually, i'd like to go back to germany for a bit. they have cool words like backpfeifengesicht which is the word for a face badly in need of a fist. how many faces do you see like that every day?? and i'm not a violent person - i believe in the lack of violence. but sometimes you just want to hit someone. or at least make them stub their toe.
but i also really want to find a real job. i want to have an apartment to decorate and live in and have time to myself and be alone. or have friends over for a dinner party (most likely catered) and have wine delivered that i can drink each night and not have people give me sideways glances for enjoying some red. and to decorate, i'd have to put up this new painting i bought at the fargo street fair a few weeks ago - isn't it awesome?? i love it. can't wait to properly display it.
and i never really did get any of the "spend a few months volunteering" out of my system. i would really love to go to new orleans and build houses. not right now, though. i'd probably die of some overheating-a-pale-white-north-dakotan thing. so maybe i'll wait to do that in winter when its not so likely that i will pass out in weather greater than 80 degrees.
no, come to think of it... the main thing i would like to do is get a challenging job. i have to use my mind more or i'll end up with alzheimers. and not be so bored all the time. yes, that is my new this year's resolution... find a job. any suggestions?
- Article about ringing in the new year in a new way
- End the year with the year in mind
but back to the beginning of 2009. i honestly thought i would be going to africa. that whole kiva-fiasco ended with a loud wimper. then while i planned my next move - i was going to go to asia to volunteer or build houses in new orleans - the region was hit with a massive flood - taking up almost 6 weeks of worry and sandbagging. that was a big distraction and then was my extravagant may vacation heading all over the world. i got back in june and *started* looking for a job and getting things back in order and now its august. and today marks the day that i have been without "real" employment for a year. crazy how time has passed and i don't feel as if i have been doing nothing. although i predict that august will be a relatively boring month because both daisy of love and charm school ended on vhone. i was really bumed last sunday when daisy of love ended - i can't believe she picked london! i mean, i get the whole "dangerous rocker" vibe, but flex was HOT and almost sweet. i guess that's ok, too. now flex is available for when i bump into him at a grocery store in chicago...
so back to resolutions or goals or something. i don't exactly know what i want to do - a little bit of everything. i think, eventually, i'd like to go back to germany for a bit. they have cool words like backpfeifengesicht which is the word for a face badly in need of a fist. how many faces do you see like that every day?? and i'm not a violent person - i believe in the lack of violence. but sometimes you just want to hit someone. or at least make them stub their toe.
but i also really want to find a real job. i want to have an apartment to decorate and live in and have time to myself and be alone. or have friends over for a dinner party (most likely catered) and have wine delivered that i can drink each night and not have people give me sideways glances for enjoying some red. and to decorate, i'd have to put up this new painting i bought at the fargo street fair a few weeks ago - isn't it awesome?? i love it. can't wait to properly display it.
and i never really did get any of the "spend a few months volunteering" out of my system. i would really love to go to new orleans and build houses. not right now, though. i'd probably die of some overheating-a-pale-white-north-dakotan thing. so maybe i'll wait to do that in winter when its not so likely that i will pass out in weather greater than 80 degrees.no, come to think of it... the main thing i would like to do is get a challenging job. i have to use my mind more or i'll end up with alzheimers. and not be so bored all the time. yes, that is my new this year's resolution... find a job. any suggestions?
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